The coating of electrically conductive substrates by electrodeposition is a well known and important industrial process. (For instance, electrodeposition is widely used in the automotive industry to apply primers to automotive substrates). In this process, a conductive article is immersed as one electrode in a coating composition made from an aqueous emulsion of film-forming polymer. An electric current is passed between the article and a counter-electrode in electrical contact with the aqueous emulsion, until a desired coating is produced on the article. The article to be coated is made the cathode in the electrical circuit with the counter-electrode being the anode.
Resin compositions used in cathodic electrodeposition baths are also well known in the art. These resins are typically manufactured from polyepoxide resins which have been chain extended and adducted to include a nitrogen. The nitrogen is typically introduced through reaction with an amine compound. Typically these resins are blended with a crosslinking agent and then salted with an acid to form a water emulsion which is usually referred to as a principal emulsion.
The principal emulsion is combined with a pigment paste, coalescent solvents, water, and other additives to form the electrodeposition bath. The electrodeposition bath is placed in an insulated tank containing the anode. The article to be coated is made the cathode and is passed through the tank containing the electrodeposition bath. The thickness of the coating is a function of the bath characteristics, the electrical operating characteristics, the immersion time, and so forth.
The coated object is removed from the bath after a certain period of time. The object is rinsed with deionized water and the coating is cured typically in an oven at sufficient temperature to produce crosslinking.
Prior art of cathodic electrodepositable resin compositions, coating baths, and cathodic electrodeposition processes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,922,253; 3,984,299; 4,093,594; 4,134,864; 4,137,140; 4,419,467; and 4,468,307, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
An important characteristic of the electrodeposition resins are their flexibility. In fact, to be useful as an electrocoat resin, the polyepoxide must be chain extended by an internal flexibilizer. The internal flexibilizer enhances flow and coalescence and increases rupture voltage of the composition. Currently, internal flexibilization is usually accomplished by chain extending the polyepoxide with a polyether polyol or a polyester polyol. However, polyester polyols do not have the desired hydrolytic stability and polyether polyols tend to absorb moisture. What is needed is an internal flexibilizer which has the desired hydrolytic stability and does not absorb moisture.